Are you hooked on evolutionary computation, genetic algorithms in particular, and their benefits, limitations as well as some of the common pitfalls? If the answer is yes, then you may find learning classifier systems, introduced in the next chapter, fascinating. This chapter dealt with the following topics:
Key concepts in evolutionary computing
The key components and operators of genetic operators
The pitfalls in defining a fitness or unfitness score using a financial trading strategy as a backdrop
The challenge of encoding predicates in the case of trading strategies
Advantages and risks of genetic algorithms
The process for building a genetic algorithm forecasting tool from the bottom up
The genetic algorithm is an important element of a special class of reinforcement learning, which is introduced in the Learning classifier systems section in the next chapter.